EuroMena II acquires 20% of Egypt's Easy Group

This is the Fund's third investment in Egypt since the revolution of January 25, 2011.

The Managing Director of EuroMena, Romen Mathieu, said, "Once again we prove our faith in Egypt's future and economy despite the current setbacks and we are confident in the major opportunities for growth and profit realization on the Egyptian market."

Ever since its inception in 2000, Mathieu noted, "Easy Group has been on a steady growth path even during the revolution. This is expected to continue thanks to the management's know-how, quality and nature of the Group's products and to the growing demand for such goods on the Egyptian market, which is known by its massive demographic size."

Gilles de Clerck, the Executive Director of EuroMena, explained that in addition to funding, "EuroMena II will assist Easy Group to mitigate the impact of the Egyptian Pound's devaluation and work with its management on strengthening its local presence by enhancing its production and distribution capacity as well as developing a geographical coverage of the Group, enabling it to turn into a key regional strategic player in the FMCG industry."

Easy Group Founder and Chairman Dr. Asser Salama stated, "The partnership with the EuroMena Team will provide a key support for the Group's regional expansion plans, particularly towards the GCC countries."

He added, "EuroMena will deploy its expertise and skills to enhance Easy Group's governance and administrative functions, thus strengthening the corporate identity and transforming the Group into a renowned regional corporation."

Dr. Salama said, "Easy Group is a market leader today in the field of wet wipes, natural hair removal 'Halawa' and antiseptic products with more than 45% market share. Moreover, the Group will support the rise in health awareness amongst the Egyptian society and the growing interest of Arab consumers in general for healthcare and health protection means."

EuroMena II had announced in April 2012 that it has acquired 51% of Al-Oyoun al-Dawli Hospital, one of Egypt's leading medical centers specializing in ophthalmology and eye surgery. This was followed by another announcement in August 2012, whereby EuroMena II has invested $20m in Sakson Petroleum Services, a regional group specializing in oil and gas drilling headquartered in Egypt.

The investment in Easy Group is the third one in Egypt out of EuroMena II's total of five investments. Moreover, following the transmission of Khoury Home Group in Lebanon from the Khoury family to their partners, EuroMena II's ownership had increased from 16% (October 2011) to 30%, enabling the fund to take in charge an indirect majority of 60% for the direct supervision and control of the Group's management. Furthermore, EuroMena I has successfully exited Siniora Food, a leader in the processed meat industry based in Jordan, returning double the fund's investment.

EuroMena II is expected to fund one more investment before using up its $90m fund, which has focused on diversified sectors such as healthcare, oil and gas services, banking and retail. Moreover, preparations are ongoing to launch EuroMena III, which is expected to reach a size of $200m. The new fund will build on the same strategy implemented by EuroMena I and II, which is based on investing in high-growth sectors in the MENA region with the objective of forming Regional Leading Groups (RLGs).